


you are not alone

by takakoyaki



Category: Infinite (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Happy Ending, M/M, soloist!gyu
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-21
Updated: 2016-04-21
Packaged: 2018-06-03 12:59:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6611506
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/takakoyaki/pseuds/takakoyaki
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Sunggyu lived alone ever since he lost the ability to sing. The only person he usually saw was a neighbor that kept strange hours, dyed his hair even stranger colors, and even when his blinds were wide open danced in his living room like he didn’t have a care in the world.</p><p>AKA, a fic where Sunggyu has to start over, but he doesn't have to do it by himself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	you are not alone

**Author's Note:**

  * In response to a prompt by Anonymous in the [InfiniteRarepairFicathon2016](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/InfiniteRarepairFicathon2016) collection. 



> **Prompt:**
> 
> Kim Sunggyu is a singer who lost his voice to a throat infection. Lost and depressed, he doesn't know what to do with his life now that all he ever worked for is gone. Enters Jang Dongwoo, his new neighbor who doesn't take "no" for an answer and will stop at nothing to make Sunggyu smile again.

Starting over wasn’t easy.

Officially, the artist Kim Sunggyu was on a short hiatus. The company issued a short statement saying that he had temporarily relocated to the countryside while he recovered under the care of his family. In reality, Sunggyu had decided to live alone and hadn’t technically gone that far, but moved to a quieter, suburban area in Gyeonggido.

Everyone had told him it was a good opportunity to rest, but without music in his life, there was no way around it. Sunggyu was at a complete loss.

It’d been two, three, maybe four or five days since he moved in, but his boxes were left mostly unpacked. What was the point? His days and nights were all the same, a blank page, with no other hobbies or interests for Sunggyu to fall back on now that the one thing that gave his life meaning had gone away.

He didn’t go outside except for necessities, and spent most of his time staring mindlessly at his computer. The only sign that he was still even rooted to the physical world came from the admittedly catchy music he started to hear from a nearby apartment. It was in the next building over, but separated from Sunggyu’s second-floor unit only by a very narrow alleyway.

The young man who lived there provided some of the only distractions Sunggyu allowed himself. He kept strange hours, dyed his hair even stranger colors, and even when his blinds were wide open he danced in his living room like he didn’t have a care in the world.

Sunggyu envied him.

 

\--

 

It was a quiet Tuesday evening. Sunggyu was sitting around, watching his neighbor dance from his window again. Usually his movements seemed kind of random, but today he was unusually focused, his body moving like water to the beat of the music that Sunggyu could hear too.

He didn’t realize that the guy had noticed him this time until he left the room and returned with a large piece of paper, a note scrawled on it with thick marker:

 

_enjoy the show? ~.~_

_Jang Dongwoo 23 y/o btw_

 

His handwriting was atrocious, but that was besides the point. Sunggyu felt himself blushing as he scrambled for a large enough piece of paper to write on. He settled for the back of an old poster, scribbling his reply on it before putting it against the window facing Dongwoo.

 

_No comment. Good song though_

_Kim Sunggyu, 24_

 

Dongwoo broke into a huge smile and gestured wildly in response. He quickly scrawled another note underneath the previous one before showing the paper to Sunggyu again.

 

_it’s a special remix_

_have on flash drive, apt # pls_

 

Sunggyu didn’t really want or expect his voyeurism to turn into an in-person kind of relationship, but he was admittedly curious as to how Dongwoo got his hands on some of the music he kept playing so loudly. After a few moments of hesitation, he wrote down his apartment number for Dongwoo, and the next thing he knew there was a loud knock on his door.

“Isn’t it a great remix? My friend made it, so it’s not publicly released or anything.” Dongwoo smiled widely again as he handed over the flash drive. Now that they were standing in front of each other, Sunggyu noticed he obviously worked out, but was much shorter than him. “You can just put it in my mailbox or give it back to me whenever, I live in 2B next door.”

“Just so you know, I was only looking at you on accident.” Sunggyu pocketed the drive and was about to shut the door. Dongwoo stopped him, his eyes going wide and his face unnecessarily close as he peered up at Sunggyu.

“Wait! You wouldn’t happen to be _that_ Kim Sunggyu, right? The singer-songwriter?”

Sunggyu suppressed a groan. He had naively assumed Dongwoo wouldn’t recognize him since almost all of his fans were female. “...No, that’s not me.”

“Hmm, but I think you really are!” Dongwoo crossed his arms. “Now that I think about it, you do look just like him.”

“I look like him, but I’m not him.” This time, Sunggyu said it with conviction. He was no longer a singer, after all. “Go home, Dongwoo-sshi.”

Dongwoo merely laughed, and though he did finally go on his way he waved more than necessary. “Okay! See you later, hyung!”

After making sure Dongwoo had really left, Sunggyu finally shut the door and went back to his computer. He put the flash drive in, but in the end didn’t listen to any of the songs. It was one thing to hear music when he couldn’t help it, like when Dongwoo played it or the convenience store sound system did. It was another thing entirely to listen to choose to listen to music on his own, to purposefully remind himself of everything he’d lost.

In the end, he placed the flash drive on the table. He’d return it to Dongwoo tomorrow.

 

\--

 

After Sunggyu returned the flash drive, he had the vague hope that would be the last interaction he had with Dongwoo. But once Dongwoo was aware of his presence, there was no going back.

He tried not to watch Dongwoo dancing anymore, but ever since that first night Dongwoo only danced when Sunggyu was in the living room, as if he knew he could get Sunggyu’s attention that way. Sunggyu had never really been that interested in dancing, but he couldn’t help but sneak a glance or two when Dongwoo danced so freely, as if his body were completely taken over by the music.

Dongwoo wrote him more notes, too, though Sunggyu only replied maybe half the time, and usually with a large, resounding ‘NO.’ Especially when Dongwoo asked if he could come over, but on an unusually warm spring day he decided to show up at Sunggyu’s door anyway.

“This better be good.” Sunggyu told him. The only reason he answered at all is because his body had pretty much moved on its own after the scent of home-cooked food from Dongwoo’s apartment drifted in through his open windows.

“I got a bunch of extra food from my parents, so I thought you might want some,” Dongwoo explained cheerfully, holding up several bags. “There’s different kinds of kimchi, fried rice, tofu patties, that kind of thing. I brought some soju too, if you’re interested.”

The only thing currently in Sunggyu’s fridge was soju, but he didn't tell Dongwoo that. He felt kind of dizzy, and really he just wanted Dongwoo to leave.

“Dongwoo, I--”

Sunggyu suddenly couldn’t finish his sentence. His throat felt strange, and he felt the blood drain from his face as he reached up to touch his neck.

“Hyung? Are you okay?!” Dongwoo dropped whatever he was holding to put a hand on Sunggyu’s shoulder. Sunggyu made a feeble attempt to push him away, but his body felt too weak to move anymore.

“Don’t…” He tried to speak, but the rest of his words wouldn’t come. Maybe because he hadn’t eaten or slept properly in days, but he felt like his vision was blurring around the edges. The last thing he heard before everything went black was Dongwoo calling his name in a panic.

When Sunggyu came to he was lying in the outpatient room of a clinic, an IV attached to his arm and a concerned Dongwoo hovering over him.

“Don’t speak if you can’t,” Dongwoo said gently. “We’re just at the local clinic. I made sure you were breathing, then carried you out and drove you here because I thought calling an ambulance and going to the big hospital might be bad for your secrecy. I’m sorry.”

Sunggyu blinked at him in disbelief, then shook his head. It wasn’t like he was that heavy or anything, but honestly, carrying him must have been a lot of trouble.

“You didn’t have to. I told you, I’m not a celebrity,” he said weakly.

“Hyung, it’s okay. I’m not going to tell anyone.” Dongwoo frowned at him. “Anyway, the doctor said you were dehydrated and exhausted, and when you got up to answer the door it caused a fainting spell. They’re giving you some fluids and sending you home to rest,” he continued on, nodding. “I’ll drive you home, too, so don’t worry.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Sunggyu said quietly, turning his head away from Dongwoo as he closed his eyes.

“It’s okay. It’s never too much to help someone else.” Dongwoo protested. Sunggyu only sighed in response, so it was up to Dongwoo to break the silence again.

“Is it true you can’t sing anymore?”

Sunggyu bit his lip and didn’t give an answer. But his silence was enough of one.

Dongwoo didn’t say anything either, probably because there was nothing to say. After a long moment, he reached out and put his hand on Sunggyu’s arm again.

This time, Sunggyu didn’t push him away.

 

\--

 

They were driving home later that night when Dongwoo turned on the radio and a familiar Park Hyoshin song started playing. Dongwoo smiled and hummed along softly, but Sunggyu only stared out the window, feeling hollow inside.

When they got back, Dongwoo also insisted on walking Sunggyu back to his apartment, making sure all the food he was originally going to give him was safely stored in Sunggyu’s fridge.

“Do you need anything else? Want help unpacking?” he asked when he was done, seeming to vibrate with nervous energy.

“Don’t worry about me,” Sunggyu told him automatically. He was used to telling people that.

Dongwoo regarded him for a long moment.

“Do you... want to talk about it?” he asked eventually.

“I’ve talked about it enough.” Sunggyu declined immediately. Dongwoo only stared at him again, and Sunggyu looked away.

“The doctors, the company, my parents… they all just say the same thing,” he muttered. “They tell me to rest, wait it out, that I should think about rehab soon.”

“You can do rehab?” Dongwoo’s eyes lit up. “Hyung, that’s great!”  

“It’s not great. What if I do try, and finally get to sing again, but next time I damage my vocal cords beyond repair?” The thought alone was paralyzing enough to keep him awake at night. Sunggyu felt his fists clench and unclench, involuntarily. “I’ll never stop being afraid of that, but I can’t sing if I’m scared. There’s no reason to have hope.”

Dongwoo shook his head firmly. “There’s always hope, hyung. I’ll prove it to you.”

Despite Dongwoo’s conviction, Sunggyu didn’t really believe him, but he didn’t stop him either. He figured Dongwoo would just have to learn the hard way like everyone else.

 

\--

 

The following weeks brought Sunggyu various… for lack of a better word, _surprises_.

First it was a printed article about vocal cord therapy, along with a messily handwritten note of encouragement slipped under his door. Then he found a single daffodil and another flash drive of music in his mailbox, accompanied by a note with Dongwoo’s signature and an odd doodle of what Sunggyu thought might be a cat. A little after that, he walked out of his room and saw one of those cheesy motivational posters, plus a big drawing taped up in Dongwoo’s window--a sunflower, messy and childlike, with music notes scribbled all around it.

By the time Dongwoo physically showed up at his place with a bag full of steamed buns from the convenience store, Sunggyu couldn’t help but blurt it out. “You’re not actually my stalker fan or something, are you?”

“Stalker fan?” Dongwoo asked, confused.

“All that stuff you’ve been doing for me.” Sunggyu blushed when he thought back on it. He’d kept it all for some stupid reason he couldn’t quite articulate, but he’d always been bad at letting go of certain things. “I mean… why me? Why do you care so much?”

“I said I’d prove it, didn’t I?” Dongwoo broke into another huge smile, shoving the bag of buns into Sunggyu’s reluctant arms. “And I care because… well, I can’t help but feel like I owe you.”

“Owe me? I haven’t done anything for you,” Sunggyu pointed out as Dongwoo squeezed past him and into the apartment, plopping himself down on one of his still unpacked boxes.

“I’ve loved dancing ever since I was a kid,” Dongwoo told him with a wistful expression, even though Sunggyu hadn’t asked for his childhood sob story. “A couple years back I injured my leg pretty badly, and went through a slump even after doing rehab. And you know what got me through it?”

Sunggyu shook his head. He wasn’t sure what else to do.

“It was you, hyung.” Dongwoo smiled sheepishly. “Your songs, I mean. My sister sent me your debut album, back when it first came out. There’s just something about them that made me feel like everything was going to be okay… and so here I am, dancing again. I just figured if you’re going through the same thing, then there has to be something I can do for you.”

“Dongwoo…” Sunggyu sat down across from him, folding his hands together and trying to find the right words. “I appreciate it, but I’m not the person who made that album anymore. I’m just… I’m nothing.”

“You are, though. Even if you can’t see it, you poured your heart and soul into singing on that album, and all the ones after it. You're still Kim Sunggyu, right?” Dongwoo shrugged, his smile turning sad. “I know you’re scared, but I just wanted you to know that you’re not alone. You don't have to do everything alone.”

_You’re not alone._

It was the first time anyone had ever told Sunggyu that. Not since he joined the company, anyway, and even though he hasn’t cried in ages Sunggyu suddenly felt like crying. He stood up, turning away from Dongwoo to hide his expression.

“I’ll think about it,” he said quietly. “The… the rehab.”

“Hyung!” Dongwoo threw his arms around Sunggyu from behind, overjoyed, and Sunggyu stiffened reflexively before realizing that Dongwoo was sniffling into the back of his shirt.

“Don’t cry, stupid,” he murmured, turning around in Dongwoo’s arms and putting his hand on top of his head. His own nose leaked a little, and his eyes maybe watered a little too, but he wasn’t crying.  “Don’t cry for my sake.”

Sunggyu waited until Dongwoo stopped crying and walked him home, then returned to his own apartment and went straight to bed.

He slept more soundly that night than he had in months.

 

\--

 

The next morning was Sunday. Sunggyu woke up earlier than usual (in other words, before noon) and decided to start unpacking his boxes. He wasn’t really sure why, he just had the sudden urge to finally live amongst something other than a sea of taped up cardboard boxes. When he started opening them he discovered his keyboard still in a box, and most of his clothes, many of them fan gifts. His music memorabilia was in there too, old concert t-shirts and posters and other things he probably didn’t need anymore, but couldn’t get rid of either.

He was sitting in the middle of his living room, surrounded by all the junk he’d brought with him and wondering what to do with it, when he spied Dongwoo milling around on the small balcony that was facing Sunggyu’s place. It looked like he was up to something... suspicious. With trepidation, Sunggyu opened the sliding door and headed out onto his own veranda.

“I almost don’t want to ask, but what are you doing?”

“I’m making a bridge,” Dongwoo replied cheerfully, motioning between them. He had some bunched-up linens and, inexplicably, a large bamboo pole. “I just figured, if I’m going to be coming over so much, I might as well make a shortcut right?”

“Please do not.” Sunggyu rubbed his temples. “You’re going to hurt yourself.”

It was too late. Dongwoo had somehow set up the bamboo pole so that the ends were set on the verandas one floor above them, and he tiptoed on the railing of his own balcony, prepared to makeshift-zipline down onto Sunggyu’s balcony. “Here I goooo!”

“Waitwaitwaitwait--”

There was a resounding snap as the bamboo pole broke under Dongwoo’s weight at the last second, and luckily Sunggyu had enough time to move so that he could at least try to cushion Dongwoo’s fall onto his balcony. He was successful in that regard at least, though he thought some ribs might be broken as he lied there with Dongwoo on top of him, completely winded.

“Oof.” Dongwoo was heavier than he looked, his lean yet muscular body tensing against Sunggyu’s as he lifted himself off of him. “Thanks for catching me, hyung. You okay?”

“You… you goddamn idiot.” Sunggyu groaned, sitting up and rubbing his side tenderly. “I think you broke something.”

“But it almost worked!” Dongwoo said optimistically. “Don’t worry hyung, I’ll figure out a shortcut in no time!”

“You don’t need one. Just take the stairs,” Sunggyu lectured him. Even though Dongwoo already rolled off of him, he could still feel the warmth of Dongwoo’s body on his, and it made him blush without thinking. “Or… I don’t know, I could come over to your place sometime too, I guess.”

“Really? You really would?” Dongwoo’s huge mouth fell open in surprise.

“Anything so you don’t ever pull something like that again.” Sunggyu nodded emphatically. “You promised I wouldn’t have to do anything alone, remember? So it’d be a problem for me if you fell and broke your leg again.”

“Anything?” Dongwoo tilted his head at him. He looked like he was plotting something, which worried Sunggyu. “What if... I asked you to go out with me?”

Sunggyu wasn’t sure if Dongwoo was being serious or not, but he felt himself blush even harder anyway. “What are you talking about? You know I’m a celebrity, right?”

“I’m taking a job as a choreographer with your label soon, so it’ll be easy for us to see each other even if you move out.” Dongwoo only grinned, shrugging like he had it all figured out. “Plus, I’ve kept your secret so far, right?”

It was all too much to think about. Sunggyu drew his knees up to his chest and curled up in a ball, unable to contain his embarrassment any longer.

“Hyung, don’t hide.” Dongwoo pouted and tugged on his arm. “Do you… do you not want to go out with me?”

“I didn’t say _that_ ,” Sunggyu protested a little too quickly. He couldn’t stop hiding his face from Dongwoo though, not with how red it felt. “It’s just-- do you really-- you actually _like_ me? Even after all that emo crap I gave you?”

Dongwoo laughed merrily. “Look at me and I’ll show you.”

Something about the way he said it made Sunggyu curious. Slowly, he raised his head, and Dongwoo didn’t miss a beat. He smiled, leaned over, and kissed Sunggyu right on the lips.

 

\--

 

_One year later_

 

Sunggyu walked backstage after his first comeback showcase after his hiatus. The crowd’s cheers and screams still rang loudly in his ears, and he couldn’t help but wipe some stray tears from his eyes as the various staff congratulated him.

When he got to his dressing room, he sat in his chair alone for a while, processing everything that had happened up until then. All the time spent in rehabilitation and therapy had led up to this, but it was only just the start. A new beginning.

There was a soft knock at the door, and Sunggyu knew who it was. “Come in.”

“I brought you some water.” Dongwoo’s voice and demeanor stayed professional until the door was closed safely behind him. Then, he broke into that familiar huge smile as he bounded over to Sunggyu. “You were amazing out there, Gyu! I’m so happy for you!”

All of the past year Dongwoo had stayed by his side during the long rehabilitation, and Sunggyu felt like he’d never be able to fully repay him for any of it-- his genuine positivity, his unwavering support, his earnest and selfless love. He gazed up at Dongwoo quietly before abruptly pulling him down onto his lap. Dongwoo giggled in surprise and straddled him immediately, rubbing their noses together. His arms wrapped loosely around his neck as Sunggyu’s circled his waist and their lips met naturally, melting into a slow and sensual kiss.

“I wouldn’t be here without you,” Sunggyu murmured softly, after they finally broke apart. “Thank you.”

“Thank _you_ for letting me be a part of it.” Dongwoo shook his head. “I’m so, so proud of you, baby.”

“After promotions here are done, I’m performing in Japan for the first time in years,” Sunggyu told him. “I’m nervous about how it’ll be received, or if I can still even speak any Japanese, but… I’m not alone, right?”

“You’re not alone.” Dongwoo reached up and caressed the side of Sunggyu’s face. He was smiling gently, and even though such a thing had seemed impossible only a year ago, right now Sunggyu couldn’t help but smile back.

Starting over hadn’t been easy at all, but it was the best thing that had ever happened to him.

**Author's Note:**

> written to Sunggyu's song [I need you](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbzwecIT2nw), but it ended up a lot happier than the song hahaha. I had a lot of fun with this so I hope it's okay for what the prompter had in mind!


End file.
